An exhibition showcasing the work of important and emerging artists from the Middle East, Turkey, Europe and the U.S. East Meets West on the East End will mark summer’s end with a look at beauty and tranquility while exploring the artists’ synergies and differences.  Feature painting, sculpture and video, these contemporary artist; Roya Akhavan, Shoja Azari and Shahram Karimi, Reza Derakshani, William Hillman, Nir Hod, Rachel Hovnanian, Peter Hristoff, Alexis Laurent, Arnaud Rivieren, Martin Saar, Elizabeth Thompson and Negar Akhami, will come together through art and expression in this exhibition on the East End.

Among the highlights from the exhibition will be a work from Shoja Azari and Shahram Karimi’s Silence Series, 2007-2008, which incorporates painting and video to create a moving painting.  Carefully filmed abstract images of natural landscapes are projected onto a canvas depicting a painted landscape.  The moving image is superimposed on the painted canvas, and the subtle movements of wind and water suddenly bring the flat surface to life, imparting an element of real time onto an otherwise frozen moment. 



New York City-based Negar Ahkami is creating several works specifically for the exhibition.  Her paintings negotiate two cultures, reflecting the first-generation American experience through Persian influences of color, pattern, ceramic textures and symbolism, often with a satirical, political voice.



In monumental form, New York-based Israeli artist Nir Hod’s photorealistic paintings explore themes of beauty, love, loss, and pain. His recent work, Dreams Don’t Come Easy, 2009, will be included in the exhibition.



Elizabeth Thompson, who has studios in New York City and Florida, will show new work for the exhibition.  From a close vantage point, her luscious paintings of flora seek to reveal the sublimity of the natural world.  Often inspired by the Florida Everglades, she completed an artist residency in the National Park.  She has exhibited extensively in the U.S. and Europe since 1974 and has completed more than 20 mural commissions. 



East Meets West on the East End will also include a number of sculptures:  Rachael Hovnanian’s Body Armor, 2009, in cold cast marble, offers a woman’s one piece bathing suit as though it is being worn by an invisible female form. Paris-born, San Francisco-based artist Alexis Laurent presents a riff on Faberge eggs with his large sculpture L’Oeuf, 2010. 



An opening for the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, September 1st, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Tripoli Gallery of Contemporary Art, located at 30 Jobs Lane, Southampton. A portion of the proceeds from the exhibition will benefit the Southampton Fresh Air Home, a camp for physically challenged children.  Music and refreshments will be provided.